As the semiconductor world is undergoing rapid changes, the European project ICOS – International Cooperation On Semiconductors has successfully concluded its three-year mission: identify the needs and opportunities for international collaboration in this changing ecosystem.
Operating in alignment with the EU Chips Act, Green deal and Digital Agenda, ICOS has served as a bridge between the European Commission and international global like-minded countries. In the frame of the Digital Partnerships and Trade and Technology Councils, the project has contributed to develop promising balanced bilateral/multilateral semiconductor partnerships of mutual interest to strengthen Europe’s position in emerging technologies and global value chains of semiconductors. In particular through the organisation of 24 bilateral/multilateral Workshops with key countries, including Japan, South-Korea, India, Singapore, USA and Taiwan. Very close and fruitful cooperation with the European Commission was established during the three years of ICOS to strengthen international cooperation with leading semiconductor countries by combining political, scientific and technological strategies.
ICOS results to strengthen Europe position in the value chain of semiconductors
Building on a large consortium of experts, including Academia, industry, Associations and Consulting Companies, ICOS delivered many results destined to advise the European Commission policymakers and stakeholders on collaborative actions to be implemented with leading semiconductor countries, supported by an in-depth risk-benefit assessment. The ICOS results include:
– Analysis of the semiconductor industrial ecosystems in Europe and in 7 key non-EU countries (China, India, Japan, ROK, Singapore, Taiwan, US), alongside other studies on Canada and Malaysia.
– Strategic Gap Analysis underlying generic challenges and needs, but also next-generation and emerging technologies to identify opportunities for Europe based on international cooperation driven by public authorities
– Collaborative Actions with the organization of 24 bilateral and multilateral workshops and matchmaking activities with European Industrial & Academic communities and leading semiconductor countries
– Policy advices and recommendations for international cooperation, including Research topic recommendations, potential cases of complementary cooperation between EU and other Countries, or recommendations for standardisation activities.
Overall, during its three years of operation, ICOS has implemented, strengthened and developed the partnerships with the leading semiconductor countries, in close cooperation with the European Commission.
Technological Priorities for emerging technologies
The ICOS findings highlight that international cooperation is no longer a mere mechanism to fill short term technological gaps, but a strategic lever for transforming Europe’s strong research base into industrial leadership and the foundation of new opportunities to strengthen Europe’s position in global value chains in semiconductors, dominated by Asia and the United States.
Key recommendations for future collaborative research and investment include:
AI & Advanced Computation: The AI-driven compute explosion requires a shift toward heterogeneous architectures, optical interconnects, and advanced packaging to maintain performance scaling and energy efficiency.
Memory bandwidth and data movement bottlenecks are critical constraints; research into near-memory compute, processing-in-memory or alternative computing architectures should be accelerated.
Quantum technologies remain highly exploratory, and Europe should maintain a diversified research portfolio across superconducting, silicon-based, and photonic qubits
Advanced Functionalities: the domains which covers sensors, energy harvesting, power electronics, photonics, wireless communication… show strong innovation potential, with heterogeneous integration as a common enabler across these tracks.
Advanced packaging technologies as strategic enablers: both for advanced computation and advanced functionalization. Europe must develop full-stack capabilities from devices to systems.
A Call to Action for the European Ecosystem of semiconductors
Three-years of intense analyses, meetings and collaboration within the ICOS projects lead us to the conclusion that International Cooperation should be focused, mutually beneficial, and anchored in areas where complementary global strengths can help Europe overcome structural obstacles. Particularly in advanced packaging, high volume integration, memory technologies, and AI enabled design. At the same time, Europe must reinforce its internal capabilities through coordinated pilot line efforts, improved access to design and modelling infrastructure, and targeted skills development.
“International cooperation is key to building balanced semiconductor partnerships with like-minded countries on initiatives of mutual interest. It is essential to strengthening Europe’s position in global value chains and reinforcing the objectives of the EU Chips Act for European economic and societal resilience,” says Francis Balestra, coordinator of the ICOS project.
Taking into account the actual geopolitical context and the semiconductor landscape, the role, objectives and results of ICOS are more strategic than ever for laying the foundations for future cooperation. The new project devoted to international cooperation, ICOS-Squared, will be launched in the coming months and will further strengthen Europe’s position in the global semiconductor ecosystem.
Source: ICOS Project
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